The King and His Savior
by beatnikin
Summary: Hilda, Cheren and Bianca set off on their adventure in Unova each with a different goal in mind, but when a mysterious character who goes by the name N shows up Hilda's plans veer off track. Who was this guy, and why was she actually starting to like bumping into him?
1. Chapter 1

**Howdy folks! This is my first fanfiction, or at least the first one I plan on finishing for once. I've recently obtain my own copy of Pokémon White (I had played through my sisters copy of Black) and my friend Celeste suckered me into FerrisWheelShipping. I really wanted to write about it because I've had little plot bunnies hopping around in my head. For the most part I'm going to update after I finish a section of the game, so that I can get it as close to the game as possible overall. Eventually I'll be adding in parts that aren't in the game, and I'll probably add Pokémon to places where you don't usually find them for the sake of shaking it up. The rating may go up eventually, but we'll see. For now I'm keeping it at a safe T because that's the game plan for now. Anyway, I hope you like it!**  
**Disclaimer: I don't own the Pokémon franchise, nor any of the characters.**

* * *

I laid on my bed staring at the ceiling. Cheren sat at my desktop rolling the chair back and forth absent mindedly. I crossed my arms and huffed, pulling my hat down over my face and half considered taking a nap. It was pretty obvious Bianca didn't intend to show up anytime soon. Cheren stared lustfully at the blue box with a pretty green ribbon. Inside were the Pokémon we would become partners with. That was as soon as Bianca decided to get here. The front door slammed, frantic footsteps came from the stairs. Bianca nearly tripped on the last step, clutching her bag to her chest breathing heavily.

"I'm really, really sorry guys." She dropped her bag to the floor and let out a deep breath. I smiled and sat up in bed tipping my hat back up.

"It's okay Bianca."

"Honestly Bianca, we all know you have no sense of time but today is important," Cheren stood up and folded his arms giving her a condescending look, "you've kept us waiting for over 45 minutes." He sighed and let his arms fall back to his side. "Never mind, at any rate you're here now. So let's pick our Pokémon," he looked at me and gestured to the box, "it's your house Hilda, it's only fair you get to pick first."

I pushed myself off the bed and stood in front of the box that was sitting on my desk. I took the card off the bow and read it out loud.

"Hey guys, these are the Pokémon I'm giving you to start your career as trainers! There are three Pokémon, one for each of you. Settle who gets each one nicely! - Professor Juniper." I carefully slid the green ribbon off the box and opened the lid. Three shiny Poké Balls sat inside, I grinned and grabbed all three. I pressed the button on the first ball and it grew in my hand. I pressed the button again and released the Pokémon. A bright white light landed on the floor in front of me, and a green snake like Pokémon took its shape.  
"Sniiivy." It looked around the room with bored eyes and crossed its arms. "Snivy." It concluded tilting its head up. Bianca giggled.

"He looks like you Cheren!" Cheren scoffed, but he grimaced when he noticed he was indeed in a similar position as the small Pokémon. I suppressed a smile and opened the second Poké Ball. A small orange pig was released, it snorted and wagged its tail looking around excitedly.

"He's so so so sooo cute!" Bianca squealed clasping her hands together.

"Tepig! Te-pig!" It replied happily closing its eyes and smiling. I opened the final Poké Ball and a little otter stretched its arms yawning loudly, it looked around curious of his surroundings.

"Osha?" He asked questioningly looking at his two friends next to him.  
"Sni, snivy." His grass companion replied looking bored and seeming to shrug.

"Pig. Te, te te, tepig!" The fire type chortled and bounced.

"Okay Hilda, they're all out," Cheren eyed each Pokémon in turn, "take your pick." I folded my arms, tapping my chin with one hand and pursing my lips.

"Which one, which one." I contemplated over the Snivy, but like Bianca said he was too similar to Cheren; I could barely deal with one let alone two. The Tepig was so bouncy and bubbly, he was turning every which way to look around the room. He seemed such a good match for Bianca, she also had seemed to take a liking to him. That left the Oshawott. He turned around to look at me and blinked before smiling.

"Wott. Osha, osha osha. Oshawott." He nodded at me and tapped the scalchop on his stomach. "Shaaa." He nodded again and put his flippers behind him, rocking back and forth on his heels. He seemed to be done with whatever he had been telling me.

"I like him, I'll take this little guy." I leaned down and picked him up. He smiled and kicked his small feet.  
"Oshaaaaa!" Bianca rushed over to grab the Tepig and lifted him in the air, spinning around.

"Yay! I'm taking this one!" She squished him against her and he chortled again squealing happily.

"Tepiiiig!" The Snivy, slowly walked over to Cheren. He walked around him eyeing my friend up and down. He sniffed and stood in front of him with his arms still folded. Cheren peered down at him, he pushed his glasses further up the bridge of his nose.  
"Snivy." They nodded at each other in understanding. I rolled my eyes, they sure were going to get along.

"Okay we should go over t-"

"Hilda let's battle!" Bianca said hurriedly putting Tepig back on the ground. Cheren snorted.

"Bianca they're weak but we still can't battle inside a house."

"Exactly! They're weak so they won't cause much damage." Cheren looked at her without saying a word. Before he could give her a counter argument she was pointing at me.

"Hilda! I challenge you to a Pokémon battle!" I laughed and set my Oshawott on the ground. I stepped back and pointed back.

"I accept your challenge! Oshawott, tackle Tepig!" My Oshawott darted without hesitation at his friend and slammed him into the ground.

"Oh no! Tepig it's okay, tackle him back!" He picked himself up off the ground and charged at Oshawott, who attempted to run away but instead got smashed into my trash can.

"Shaaa!" He yelled as the can fell on top of him and my balled up papers and other trash fell on him.

"Don't let him get you down tackle again!" Oshawott brushed himself off and ran after Tepig, they chased each other all over my room, jumping on my bed, knocking over tables and even bouncing off the walls to beat each other onto the ground. Eventually Tepig collapsed on the ground, he sighed and gave a weak call.

"Piiig…" Oshawott tapped his scalchop and put his flipped on his hips.

"Osha!" He exclaimed triumphantly.

"Oh poor Tepig!" Bianca knelt beside her Pokémon and patted him, "it's okay, you did your best!" Cheren coughed and tapped his foot. Both Bianca and I looked up at him.

"I don't know if you noticed or not but…" He gestured to my room. It was in shambles. My bed sheets were on the ground in a ball, my desks were all over the place along with my papers, my DVD cabinet was open and half my movies were scattered on the floor. Even my TV was out of place. I rubbed the back of my neck sheepishly.

"Mom's gonna kill me." Bianca laughed.

"Cheren you have to battle Hilda too!" I held up my hands.

"Whoa now, we've already destroyed my room enough."

"That's the point, it's already destroyed I don't think it can get much worse!" Cheren shrugged.

"I think I can prevent the battle from getting too out of hand. First you both need to heal your Pokémon." He pulled out some potions and sprayed both Tepig and Oshawott. Tepig got up and wiggled his tail feeling a lot better. Oshawott stretched his arms again before giving Snivy a prebattle glare.

Snivy gave him a condescending look back. Cheren stood back and pointed at me like Bianca had.

"Hilda! I challenge you to a Pokémon battle!" I didn't even bother replying, I pointed at Snivy and yelled.

"Oshawott, tackle!"

"Snivy, dodge!" This battle went much differently, no matter how many times Oshawott tried to touch Snivy he always managed to slide out of the way. Every time Oshawott would pause to turn around Snivy would retaliate with his own attack. Eventually the battle ended when Oshawott fell over onto his face and started crying a little. Snivy stopped and returned to Cheren, a sly smile on his face.

I crouched down next to my Pokémon and gave his back a pat.

"Don't cry Oshawott, you win some you lose some." He sniffed and looked up at me picking himself up off the ground. He wiped some tears out of his eyes and gave me a sad look.

"Osha…" I smiled and picked him up to hug him.

"We'll beat Cheren next time."

"You wish," he laughed, "anyway we need to go tell your mom about your room." He started walking down the stairs, Bianca followed him to the top step.

"Come on Hilda, I feel really bad about what we did." She frowned and held Tepig before walking down the stairs herself. I looked around the room and sighed. I was really not looking forward to getting chewed out for destroying my room. Oshawott looked up at me and tapped my cheek with his flipper.

"Osha. Wott." He gave me a wise nod and then snuggled against me.

"I guess it's time to face the music huh?" I walked down the stairs myself. Catching the tail end of the conversation.

"We'll clean the room ourselves." Bianca said clutching her Tepig. Mom shook her head, but she didn't look very angry.

"No, it's fine I'll clean it myself later." I reached the bottom step and she turned to look at me. "You three should go see Professor Juniper and thank her for the Pokémon." Cheren nodded and looked at Bianca.

"Let's go then."

"I need to go back to my house first." Bianca said, although she didn't seem very happy about it.

"Thanks for having us over!" Cheren shouted as they both left. I stopped, I was alone with my mom. Now, surely, I was going to get yelled at. She walked over and smiled at me. The calm before the storm.

"I'm not mad at you Hilda," she said scratching Oshawotts cheek, "I remember my first Pokémon battle. It's a lot of fun. I know you didn't mean to mess up your room. It's fine I'll clean it up when I get the time. Just go see the Professor with your friends." She smiled and walked back to the kitchen table. "Oh wait before I forget," she picked up an Xtrainsceiver off the table and handed it to me, "you're going to need this." She winked at me as I strapped it onto my left wrist. She waved at the door. "Now get out of here."

I hurried past her giving her a wave before jogging to the Professors house. Cheren stood outside looking impatient, Snivy imitating him. I puffed out my cheeks trying not to laugh.

"Go check on Bianca," he said, "she's taking too long." I rolled my eyes. It's been five minutes, Cheren seriously needed to chill. I complied anyway.

"I'll be back in a second." I walked to Bianca's house returning Oshawott to his Poké Ball. The door to her house was open so I peered inside. I winced when I heard her dads booming voice, retreating behind the door again.

"You're not leaving! I'm not going to let you! You're far too young to be leaving the house, you're too young to be training Pokémon!"

"But dad, tons of other regions give kids their first Pokémon when they're ten or eleven!"

"Honey, I really think it's ok-"

"No! She's not leaving and that's final!" I heard Bianca's mom sigh in defeat, footsteps suddenly rushed towards me. Bianca smacked into me and I nearly lost my balance.

"S-sorry Hilda," Bianca pulled her hat down so I couldn't see her face, but I could tell she was getting ready to cry, "let's just…go to the Professors okay?"

"Okay, I'm right behind you." She quickly walked back to Professor Juniper's, probably trying to get there before her dad came after her. Cheren opened the door to let us in when we arrived and we gathered into the Professors laboratory.

She turned away from a large machine she had been looking at and opened her arms in welcome. "Hello you three, my name is Professor Juniper."

"Professor we know who you are." Cheren stately bluntly. Juniper scolded him, but still smiled.

"Now Cheren, it's your first day as trainers don't you think there should be some formality here?"

"Yeah Cheren just shut up for like two minutes okay?" I asked smirking. He huffed at me and turned back to the Professor, his mouth forming a small line.

"Like I was saying, I'm Professor Juniper and I would like to welcome you three to your first day as Pokémon trainers!" She beamed at us before continuing, "Being a trainer requires lots of travel and work, but I'm sure you'll all be exceptional! Now, since you'll be traveling I have a favor to ask of you."

"You want us to use the Pokédexes right?" Cheren cut in before she could continue her speech.

"Well, someone has been reading my works and spending time studying Pokémon!" Juniper said clapping her hands together seeming quite pleased.  
"Know-it-all." I muttered under my breath.

"That's all he does Professor," Bianca said giggling, "he locks himself in his room with books and reads all day." Cheren tugged at his jacket seeming a little embarrassed.

"That's not all I do." He said trying to look anywhere but at any of us.

"No, it's wonderful Cheren! Knowledge is power. At any rate, Cheren is correct and I would like you three to take these Pokédexes and attempt to complete them. That will require extensive travel but it would be of great help towards my research." She turned back the machine she had been looking at earlier and pulled out three shiny Pokédexes. She passed them out and stepped back letting us look at them. "Would you three be willing to do this?"

We looked at each other and nodded, then directed our attention back at her.

"It would be an honor Professor." Cheren said.

"This is going to be so cool!" Bianca said staring at her Pokédex. I looked at the Professor and smiled.

"Of course we'll help."

"Great!" she said grabbing a bag and heading towards the door, "I want you three to meet me on route one." As she exited we stopped not quite believing what was going on.

"We're really going to do this," Bianca started looking down at her Pokédex again, "we're going to travel Unova. We're going to be real trainers." Cheren snorted stuffing his Pokédex into his bag.

"About time too, there are seven year olds with Pokémon."

"Shut up Cheren," I said rolling my eyes, "they may have Pokémon but they don't get to travel. Plus most of them get Pokémon from their parents. We're seventeen, we have a lot more freed-" I stopped giving Bianca a sideways glance, she was looking down at her feet, her arms hanging at her sides.

"Never mind, it doesn't matter so stop complaining all the time Cheren." I walked out the door, Bianca following behind me. My mom was waiting outside and I stopped surprised.

"Did she give you the Pokédexes?" I opened my mouth about to ask her how she knew but she continued without letting me speak, "I know all about it, the Professor told me what she was going to do," she smiled, "since you three are going to be out adventuring I want to give you these." She held out three maps. "These are town maps, it's always helpful to know where you're going." She smiled as we took them. Bianca took the map from my mom but look displeased.  
"Don't worry Bianca, you just go with these two. I'll talk to your dad later." She smiled and her and she perked up a little bit.

"Thanks mom." I gave her a hug as Cheren and Bianca gave her quiet thanks yous themselves.

"Now get going you three, don't keep the Professor waiting." I watched as she headed back to the house, not noticing Bianca and Cheren leaving me behind.

"Hey no fair, wait up for me!" I hollered running to catch up to them. Cheren was sighing at Bianca when I caught up.

"Hilda, Bianca is insisting we all step out onto route one together."

"Oh shush Cheren, it's our first step on an adventure we should do it together!" I shrugged.

"I don't see why not. Don't be a kill joy." Cheren rolled his eyes at us but stopped arguing anyway. Bianca linked arms with us and grinned.

"Okay guys. One. Two. THREE!" We all jumped at once and landed past the sign stating we were entering route one.

"Okay we did it, we crossed onto route one together. As if we haven't done it a hundred times before." Cheren walked away from us. I puffed out my cheeks and lowered my voice to a baritone, swinging my arms around in front of me and stomping on the ground in place.

"I'm Cheren and I'm a big loser who can't let loose and have a little fun every once in a while, blah blah blah, books, blah blah blah, Pokémon." Bianca laughed at my imitation before tugging on my arm.

"Let's go before he yells at us for goofing off." We caught up to where the Professor and Cheren were waiting for us.

"Okay! Now that you're all here I can show you how to capture while Pokémon." She pulled out a Poké Ball and released a Minccino.

"Aww, it's so cute." Bianca said bending down to pet its head. Professor Juniper smiled.

"Yes, she is very cute. Anyway, a wild Pokémon can attack at any time when you're not in a city or town. When you encounter a Pokémon you wish to capture you need to first weaken it, and when you think it's weak enough you throw a Poké Ball. Putting it asleep will make it even easier to catch." A Lillipup was sneaking up on the Professor, bending low and wiggling its tail. She heard it snap a branch and whipped around.

"Minccino, attack." The Pokémon let loose an attack on the Lillipup without hesitation. The small dog was knocked onto the ground and let out a pitiful yelp attempting to stand back up. The Professor tossed a Poké Ball high into the air, a white light poured out of it and enveloped the Pokémon. The ball landed on the ground and shook. Finally it clicked shut and the red light on the button turned green.

"And that's all there is too it." She turned around, recalling Minccino back to its Pokéball. Even Cheren looked in awe at her. We hadn't actually seen a real capture as many times as we've walked around route one, seeing that it wasn't exactly a major road to get anywhere.

"Here, I have some Poké Balls for you guys." She pulled them out of her bag and handed each of us five. "I want you all to follow me to Accumula Town, I have more to show you." Cheren and I started to follow her but Bianca caught us by our collars.

"Wait you two, I have an idea! Wouldn't it be fun to see who has the most Pokémon by the time we get to town?"

"Sure I guess." I replied with a shrug.

"Okay, whoever has the most Pokémon including the one the Professor gave us wins." Cheren started jogging away before Bianca even finished.

"You're going down Hilda." He called as he ran towards town. I nearly chased after him but contained myself, I was so not letting him win. Bianca smiled and started jogging herself.

"Come on Hilda!" I sighed, those two were always running off without me. I decided to walk through the forest at a leisurely pace myself. I was taking in the sun light filtering in through the tree branches; I paid more attention to the wild flowers that grew in patched along the tree line. I took a special interest in the tall patches of grass, knowing a Pokémon was probably hiding in them somewhere. Route one was a totally different place when you knew you wouldn't be seeing it again for a long while. I heard a chuckling sound coming from behind a tree ahead of me. I crept forward, trying to avoid making too much noise. A Patrat was standing at attention, its paw shielding its eyes as it looked for danger. I quietly released my Oshawott, hushing him before he could greet me.

"Okay guy, listen to me. We're going to capture this Patrat." I whispered.

"Osha." He replied quietly nodding.

"Now tackle!" I yelled causing the Patrat to stand up straight and squeal looking at me. Oshawott bounded at it and slammed it against a tree. The Patrat squealed again, and attempted to shove Oshawott back, but he smashed into him again without even a command. Patrat fell to the ground panting, I took my chance and threw a Poké Ball. The white light captured the Pokémon, and the ball landed with a soft thud onto the grass. The red light immediately turned green.

"We did it Oshawott!" I bent down and gave him a squeeze.

"Sha." He sighed happily patting my cheek.

"You know. I think I want to give you a nickname." Oshawott looked at me quizzically. "Yeah I think I'm going to name you," I paused thinking, "Fivel." He looked at me again and then chortled hugging my face. "You like that? Fivel? Well Fivel it is then." I set him on the ground and picked up the Poké Ball that the Patrat had been captured in.

"I think we're going to name this one too." I opened the ball and the Patrat came out sitting on the ground. It rubbed its head and sighed.

"Pat…"

"Hey buddy," I bent down to the Patrats level. "sorry you had to take a beating like that." I frowned, "Anyway, I'm Hilda your trainer." The Patrat looked at me, and lifted itself off the ground.

"Patrat." It nodded and saluted. I laughed and saluted back.

"So now you need a name. I sort of need to know if you're a boy or girl first. Are you a girl?" The Patrat sniffed and saluted again. "Okay so a girl. Hm. Lacy, I'm going to call you Lacy." She looked at me and gave me a small nod before scuttling over to Fivel.

"Pat. Paatrat."

"Wott. Sha, osha." He tapped his scalchop and nodded. They seemed to be talking about me from the way they kept giving me glances. I waited for them to finish before returning Lacy to her Poké Ball.

"What were you saying about me Fivel?" I said giving him a stern look with my hands on my hips. He imitated my posture and gave me the same look I gave him.

"Wott, oshaaa. Sha." He stared me down daring me to reply. I laughed.

"I was joking, but it must've been serious from that look you just gave me." We walked further into the small forest before seeing the ground shift from grass soft dirt.

"Took long enough." Cheren said, his Snivy standing next to him offering Fivel and I a disdainful look.

"It's nice to see you too."

"So how many did you catch Hilda?" Bianca and her Tepig both looked excited.

"I caught a Patrat, so two."

"Aw, it's a three way tie." She looked moderately disappointed. A ringing noise sounded from all three of our Xtransceivers. I lifted my arm and saw I was getting a call from the Professor. I clicked the accept call button and was brought into a four-way call.

"Are you three getting along well with your Pokémon?"

"Sure are Professor!" Bianca said cheering up.

"I'm in front of the Accumula Town Poké Center, I'll see you soon." The call was hung up.

"Guess we better head over there." Cheren left without as. As usual. Bianca and I entered the center a few seconds after Cheren.

"Hello again you three! This is the Poké Center," she gestured around, "this is the place you want to go when your Pokémon need a rest. Which you should do right now." We put our Pokémon back into their balls and handed them to her. She set them on a tray and Nurse Joy took them to get healed up. She quickly came back and our Pokémon were returned to us. I let Fivel out of his ball again as we continued our tour. Professor Juniper explained the PC system to us and then introduced us to the Poké Mart. Finally she left us, saying that if we need her to give her a call on the Xtransceiver, and to head to Striaton City to meet a friend of hers . Bianca waved for Cheren and me to go on without her.

"I'm going to stay here for a little while, I want to pick up some more Poké Balls and maybe a Potion or two."

As Cheren and I left the Poké Center we heard a trumpet blast and a lot of commotion coming from a crowd a little ways away from the center. We looked at each other, I pursed my lips.

"Let's go check it out." I followed Cheren to the small platform and pushed our way through the crowd to the front. A group of people dressed in strange, medieval looking clothing stood on the stage. A trumpet blasted again and two of them parted to let an even more strangely dressed man stand front and center. He wore a long cloak, it had a large gold collar that wrapped around his neck, with what looked like blue gems adorning it. A large P was stitched on the front near his chest. The cloak itself was blue and yellow, with a pattern that resembled eyes emblazoned on the front. The strangest part was the visor covering one of his eyes, it glowed dark red and seemed to pulsate light. He looked around and then began speaking, the crowd instantly grew silent.

"My name is Ghetsis, I represent Team Plasma. Today, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to talk to you about Pokémon liberation." The crowd started tittering. "We have always been partners with Pokémon, and many people believe we and the Pokémon want this. But is that true? Is that what Pokémon want? Pokémon are used and abused by us, we push them around and use them as tools. Can anyone claim this is not the truth?" People were whispering amongst themselves.

"He's right though."

"Do my Pokémon really feel that way?"

"I don't believe this crack pot for a second."

"Pokémon are very different from us. They have so much potential. We have so much to learn from them. We are responsible for letting these beings live to their full potential! How must we do this? That's right, Pokémon liberation!" I heard several gasps from behind me. "Pokémon and humans will only be equal when that day comes that all Pokémon are liberated. I shall leave with these words as a parting gift. I implore you to consider the relationship between people and Pokémon. Consider what is right for our friends. Thank you for your attention." Turning around, he and the strangely dressed men walked off the stage and away. People were in a frenzy.

"There is no way he's right."  
"He's not taking away my Pokémon."

"I don't know, I think maybe he is right in some way…" The crowd slowly dispersed, people leaving in various states of confusion. Cheren and I stared at each other not believing what we were hearing.

"That Ghetsis man is crazy. Pokémon want to be with us," he huffed and folded his arms, "I know they do."

"Do they?" A quiet voice from behind us asked him. We whipped around and saw a tall boy standing behind us. His long green hair was in a ponytail and many bracelets adorned his wrists. His hands were in his pockets, and his face was partially blocked by the black hat he was wearing. "I'm not sure I believe that."

"And who are you?"

"My name is N."

"My name is Cheren, and this is Hilda." Cheren unfolded his arms giving N a strange look. "You don't really believe what the Ghetsis guy was saying do you? He's crazy, of course Pokémon want to be with us." I put my hand on my hip and pointed at him.

"Yeah, I wouldn't let him plant any seeds of doubt in your mind. I think he's up to something dirty." N looked straight into my eyes without saying anything. I suddenly felt a little uncomfortable. His eyes were soft but also calculating, he studied me for a moment and then spoke.

"Your Pokémon thinks highly of you. It's strange." I was startled by his words but tried not to show it, instead raising an eyebrow.

"You know what Fivel is thinking?"

"Oh, you name your Pokémon. It's a strange thing to do, chaining them down like that." He looked at Fivel, who looked back at him with his flippers folded. N directed his gaze at me again, "Very strange." His gaze wavered to look somewhere behind me, he had a far off look like he wasn't completely there.

"Very, very strange." He blinked and he was back to reality. He touched the brim of his hat. "I must leave now. It was a pleasure to meet you Cheren, Hilda." His eyes shifted to mine and he paused after saying my name. "I have a feeling we'll be meeting again soon." He turned and walked off, leaving Cheren and I in front of the platform alone once again.

"N…" Cheren paused watching him leave, "he's an interesting fellow. Although I think that Ghetsis character got into his head. A shame."

"He was a little…creepy." I shuddered a little bit, the thought of his stare making me feel uncomfortable again." Bianca bounded up to us, her Tepig scuttling behind her.

"Who was that guy you were talking to?"

"I don't want to talk about it, he gave me the creeps."

"I'll tell you about it later Bianca. Anyway I think I'm going to head to Striaton City like the Professor said, I'm going to take the Pokémon gym challenge." He started to walk away and Bianca hurried after him.

"See you at Striaton Hilda!" She waved as she left. Fivel and I stood alone. I looked down at him and smiled.

"Guess it's just you and me huh buddy? Let's go to Striaton too."

"Osha." He nodded starting to walk in the direction Cheren and Bianca left. I didn't walk after him right away. I was consumed in my thoughts. What did that N guy mean when he said we'd meet again? I shook my head, that was highly unlikely on all accounts. I decided to forget about it and jogged to catch up with Fivel.

* * *

_Wowza. I like that I get to make up Hilda's character for the most part since the player doesn't actually say anything. My main worry is keeping everyone in character. Since it's the first chapter I'm not too worried about it, I'm just thinking ahead. Until next time friends!_


	2. Chapter 2

**As you could probably tell I'm not going to have N battle with Hilda unless I think it's important. I'm also going to lessen the battles between Cheren because sometimes they're irrelevant, or in the case of this chapter too close together. I'm actually pretty happy with this chapter, but I know there are probably some issues with it still.  
On a side note, since I'm writing this as I play through I'm going to be messing with my team a lot in order to get a good combination to power through the gyms. Hilda's team is only really going to reflect that when I think it's necessary. ****So just assume she's catching Pokémon and you're just not hearing it narrated. If I think a Pokémon is important to the story, or I want to write a short battle scene I'll add it in but for the most part just roll with it.  
**When I write the battles, I may change it so the gym leader doesn't have as many to shorten the time it takes. I'll always leave their main, highest level Pokémon in. I also will be having her use the same Pokémon/moves that I used. I hope you guys enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it!  
Disclaimer: I do not own the Pokémon franchise or characters.

* * *

I walked through the tunnel and entered onto route two, having put Fivel back in his Poké Ball before we left Accumula Town. I barely managed to take three steps before my Xtransceiver started ringing loudly. I tapped the accept call button and my mom's face flashed onto the screen.

"Hey Hilda! It's mom."

"Mom I know it's you," I rolled my eyes at her and smiled, "what are you calling for I left the house only an hour ago."

"I wanted to call you but I'm going to hang up now."

"Wh-" She hung up before I could say anything. She wanted to call me and then she hung up. Mothers were strange sometimes but that was really str-.

"Hilda!" I whipped around and my mom was jogging out of the tunnel. "Hilda, hi honey I wanted to give you these before you got too far away. I called to see where you were and luckily I managed to catch up with you." She held out a pair of running shoes and pointed at my current worn out sneakers.

"Take those off, I found these while I was cleaning up. I guess I bought them and forgot all about it. You're old shoes are getting tore apart, you're going to be doing a lot of walking so I think you should trade them out." She was right, the shoes I were wearing had lost basically all their tread and they were really uncomfortable for walking long distances. I bent down and pulled them off, taking the new shoes to replace them. I stood up straight and marched in place. They fit really well, and my feet thanked be for the extra support.

"They look really nice." mom smiled and then put my old shoes under her arm, pulling me into a hug. "Now you go on to Striaton City. Just remember to give me a call every once in a while." I hugged her back and laughed.

"Yeah, yeah I will." She let go and turned around waving as she walked back into the tunnel.

"Don't forget to rest up every once in a while." I shook my head. Moms worried too much. I began journeying to Striaton City, a few trainers were dotted along the short path. Fivel and I took them down easily, we were a fantastic team.

"Fivel attack!" I pointed at the Purrloin that I was hoping to catch, I was down to one Poké Ball and needed to really weaken the small cat Pokémon. Fivel leaped into the air, about to tackle the Purrloin to the ground but then instead he opened his mouth and a jet of water crashed down onto the cat, and the small Oshawott was propelled backwards by the force of the water. He landed on his feet and looked around seemingly confused. I couldn't take the time to congratulate him on learning a new move because the Purrloin was starting to stand back up looking displeased at its drenched coat. I lobbed the ball into the air and crossed my fingers when the ball landed on the ground. It shook a few times and then stopped. The light didn't turn green. I eyed the ball daring it to open. With a soft click the ball latched shut.

"Awesome job Fivel," I leaned down to give him a high five, "you learned a new move too!"

"Sha." He looked bashful, brushing some stray dirt off his scalchop staring at the ground. I stood up when I heard a frantic voice behind me.

"Hilda! Hilda it's me!"

"Oh hey Bianca. I thought you were ahead of me how did you get back here?"

"I turned around to heal up my Pokémon, I also wanted to catch some more but I'm having terrible luck." She pouted put then pulled out two Poké Balls. "Let's battle Hilda, I'm stronger now I'm sure I can beat you!" I smiled and shrugged. I didn't see why not.

"Lillipup, I choose you!" The small dog Pokémon hopped up and down and barked at Fivel who growled back. "Lillipup tackle!" Before I could yell out a command in response Fivel vaulted over the Lillipup and spun around to use water gun on him. This dog Pokémon skidded to a halt and shook trying to get the water out of his fur.

"Now Fivel, tackle!" The Oshawott smashed into Bianca's Lillipup, the poor Pokémon let out a pitiful whimper before laying down on the ground in defeat. Bianca sat on the ground next to it and picked it up into her lap.

"It's okay Lillipup, you just rest now." She pulled the Pokémon back into its ball and stood up throwing a second ball out. "Tepig you show them!" I laughed, Bianca was good to her Pokémon but even she knew Tepig was going to be out in one hit. Her fire type didn't stand a chance against my water Pokémon.  
"Te?" The pig looked around confused before realizing it had been called into battle. He locked eyes with Fivel and squealed, turning to run away.

"Fivel, water gun!" Fivel breathed in and let out a torrent of water at the poor Tepig. The Pokémon didn't run away fast enough and was slammed onto the ground. He rolled onto his side and sighed. He clearly was out, or if he wasn't he didn't see the point in fighting back. Bianca pulled Tepig back into his Poké Ball and stuck both of the balls into her bag.

"Wow Hilda, you're really strong already." She dug around into her bag and pulled out some money trying to hand it to me.

"No Bianca you don't-"

"It's the rules, you defeated me in battle and so now I have to give you your winnings." She smiled at me and took my hand, placing the money in it then curled my fingers up so I couldn't give it back. "No hard feelings, you won fair and square." She pulled at her hat and pointed at me. "I'm going to beat you one day Hilda, and you'll be paying me all my money back." I laughed.

"It's a deal Bianca." I stuffed the money into my own bag. She looked at her Xtransceiver and yelped.

"Oh man I gotta go back to Accumula Town, I'll catch up with you later." She started jogging back the same way she came. "You go find Cheren!" I looked down at Fivel; he was watching Bianca with a blank stare.

"Come on little man," I pulled out his ball and popped it open, "lets head into Striaton." He purred and returned to his Poké Ball. I rounded the corner and realized that Bianca and I had been battling practically next to the entrance. I wish we had looked because then she wouldn't have to have ran all the way back to Accumula. I entered the city very excited, this was the first new town of many that I had never been to. I walked past several tall houses, amazed at their heights. When I reached the Poké Center I gave my Poké Balls to Nurse Joy and sat down on a couch to rest for a few minutes. I overheard a conversation that was going on at a table close to me.

"Yeah Team Plasma's front is that they want to liberate Pokémon, but I heard they've been stealing them to 'liberate them from their owners'. What kind of crap are they trying to pull here?"

"I saw some of them walk through here earlier today. They wear very strange outfits don't you think? They seem to want to look like knights or something."

"Something fishy is going on here, I'm keeping my kids from going out with their Pokémon unsupervised until I'm sure they're gone." I had pulled out a pen and a notepad and was busy writing down the things the two men were saying. I tapped my chin absentmindedly with the pen thinking about what I had heard myself from listening to them earlier. Pokémon liberation. Was that really what they're after? It sounds like other people share my suspicions that something bigger is going on. Who was that Ghetsis guy? My thoughts were pulled somewhere else when I heard the bell ding signaling that my Pokémon were ready for pickup. I stood up and grabbed my Poké Balls walking over to the PC. I deposited all my Pokémon but Fivel. I wanted to concentrate on training him up before I dealt with my other newly caught Pokémon. I stuffed the pad and pen back into my bag and put it on my shoulder again. It was time to battle the first gym, I was so ready for it.

Luckily, the gym was next to the Poké Center so it wasn't too long of a walk. A man stood in my way when I reached the door.

"If you're looking for the gym leader he's not here right now. He's at the school teaching a class." He folded his arms and looked over my head, not looking like he was going to say more on the subject. I sighed, I guess I would have to go to the school. The school was on the other side of the Poké Center. When I walked in there were several children chatting with each other, some showing their Pokémon off and others simply studying. I saw Cheren standing at the black board rubbing his chin.

"Cheren!" I weaved through the desks as he turned around looking surprised at hearing my voice.

"What are you doing here I thought for sure you would be challenging the gym right away."

"Some guy told me that the gym leader was here so I came to find him."

"Oh he just left," he turned back to the black board, "you must have walked right past him." He studied the board for a second before turning back to me, "I'm learning a lot about items and type advantages. I knew the basic ones but there are a lot of ones you wouldn't suspect." He pulled out two Poké Balls and looked me in the eye. "Let's battle Hilda, we just have to be careful since we're inside." I smirked and threw out Fivel's ball. I was not letting him win this time. He let out his Snivy and the Pokémon stared each other down. Some of the kids stopped talking and walked over forming a circle around us.

"Fivel, tackle!" Snivy had already started to move out of the way but the Oshawott remembered the battle from that morning and corrected himself accordingly. He smacked the Snivy into the ground. He backed up off of him and prepared to run at him again.

"Naming your Pokémon Hilda? How old are we ten? Snivy, leer." His Pokémon, already a master at the disdainful look, shot Fivel a glare that cause him to shiver.

"Fivel, ignore him and tackle again!" I put my hands on my hips and stuck my tongue out at him, "You heard me call him Fivel earlier, you're just trying to fake me out." Fivel continuously smacked Snivy around, who retaliated with vine whip. Fivel was thrown off balance and pin wheeled, trying to get gain ground before he got hit again. Snivy unleashed another vine whip on him, he squealed when the thin vines smacked against his soft fur. The small otter spun around on his heels and charged at the snake-like Pokémon without a command and slammed him against the wall. The Snivy slid down onto the ground.

"Sni…" He closed his eyes as Cheren returned him to his ball.

"Not bad Hilda." He released a Lillipup like Bianca had earlier. "I guess you have gotten at least a little stronger." He smirked expecting a reaction. I didn't bat an eye at his comment, I was going to take him down in one shot.

"Fivel, you know what to do just like with Bianca!" Fivel nodded at me and hit on the water gun as hard as he could. Cheren's Lillipup didn't stand a chance. It was out in one blow. Cheren looked at me amazed as the kids as whooped and clapped for my victory.

"One hit. That's amazing." He recalled the Lillipup and exchanged the Poké Balls in his hand for money. I gladly took my reward from him, he wasn't getting any of the kind words I offered Bianca.

"It's payback for earlier today." Cheren shrugged and dug into his bag some more.

"I deserved it I guess. Here, take this." He handed me some berries, "If you give a Pokémon one it can use it in battle when its health gets low. Manmade items won't work the same though, they don't know how to use them." He clapped his hands together and smiled. "Well I guess you should go catch up to the gym leader then." The kids dispersed as I walked back to exit the school. I was incredibly happy that I beat him. Served his little punk butt right. Fivel skipped behind me pleased that he did so well. I smiled at him but returned him to his ball anyway, I wanted to heal him up before we challenged the leader.

"There are a few trainers in the Dreamyard right now, maybe you should go battle them." A younger girl was listening to who I assumed to be her older brother speak. "It's always a good idea to train extra hard before a gym battle, you never know what you're getting yourself into." He was right though, I probably should train a little before challenging the gym.

"Excuse me," I tapped on his shoulder to get his attention, "where is this Dreamyard at?"

"The east side of town," he pointed over his shoulder, "it's past the gym." I nodded in thanks and ran off. I defeated the two trainers who were there easily, I was starting to feel that this was a waste of my time. I saw one more girl standing near some oil barrels talking to someone on an Xtransceiver. I stood across from her and leaned on a wall to wait for her to finish her conversation. After she hung up she looked at me and shook her head.

"I'm not a trainer myself. Or at least I don't battle." She cocked her head at me, "Have you challenged the gym yet?"

"No but I'm going to now since I've defeated everyone here." I turned to leave her be but she grabbed my shoulder before I could walk away.

"Water, fire or grass?"

"Uh, what?"

"Was the first Pokémon you picked a water, fire or grass type?"

"Oh, water." She opened up her bag and pulled out a Poké Ball.

"Here take this, since I don't battle I don't see the point in keeping it confined when it could be out having an adventure with someone else." I took the ball in my hands.

"I can't accept th-"

"Sure you can!" The girl snapped her bag closed again. "I think it will be a big help for you when you go to fight the gym." She smiled at me and started walking away so that I couldn't give her the Pokémon back. I sighed and pressed the button twice to release the Pokémon.

"Paaaan. Sear." A little red monkey stood in front of me and yawned. "Sear." I was actually surprised. The fire type would definitely be useful against Cheren later on. I returned him to his ball and made my way to the gym.

The guy who had blocked me from entering the gym earlier stood inside and offered me a water bottle which I gladly took. A hostess stood behind a desk. I was a little confused, was this a gym or a restaurant? I stepped forward and noticed a large curtain and three large buttons. A flame was emblazoned on the curtain and on one of the buttons. Another one of the buttons had a leaf, and the last one had a water droplet. I bit my lip contemplating what to do. Maybe it was all about type advantages? Cheren had mentioned that earlier, and so did the girl who gave me the Pansear. I decided to take a chance and moved over to stand on the button with the water droplet. The curtain slowly opened to show another room, this one had dining tables and a few people sat around eating. Waiters moved around serving food to the customers. Was it a gym AND a restaurant? I moved on ignoring the diners. The second curtain had a leaf on it. I stepped on the button with a flame. The curtain revealed to me again a new room with even more tables and diners. This was almost weird. I walked up to the last curtain which had the water droplet on it. I moved to step on the leaf.

The curtain dropped and behind it a stage was set up, three waiters from behind me walked past and got up onto the stage.

"Welcome competitor!" A blue haired waiter exclaimed.

"To the first gym in the Unova league!" The red haired on continued.

"Er-yes welcome. We three are the. Uh. Gym leaders." The green haired waiter seemed shy and didn't look all that eager to be speaking on the stage.

"This gym is all about type advantages, and how to work around them!" I puffed out my cheeks. That explained the buttons and curtains.

"Which one of us shall you be challenging? Chili?" He pointed to the red haired man. "Myself, Cress? Or Cilan?" The motioned to the green haired man who clearly wanted to stay out of this. "Who is it then?"

"Uh, I have a water type starter?" I asked it like a question instead of stating it like an answer.

"O-oh I guess you have to battle me then." Cress and Chili stepped back as Cilan moved forward. He threw out a Poké Ball and a little green monkey formed on the ground in front of him. A Pansage. I smiled, so that's why that girl offered me her Pansear.

"Type advantages are important, you need to learn how to memorize your Pokémons weaknesses and strengths." Chili looked at me while I was picking out my Pansear.

"Power alone will never get you anywhere." Cress concluded.

"Pansear, go!" The small red monkey hooted when it landed on the ground. Cilan looked surprised but shook it off.

"Pansage work up!" The monkey concentrated furiously squeezing its eyes shut and bouncing a little.

"Pansear, incinerate!" The Pokémon inhaled sharply and then let loose a wave of fire upon the grass type. The Pansage was engulfed in the fire and when the attack stopped it seemed to be near its breaking point already.

"Excellent!" Cress shouted.

"Superb use of type advantage!" Chili agreed.

"Pansage, tackle!" His Pansage leapt up and charged Pansear at an incredible speed. Both Pokémon were thrown into the air. Pansear rubbed his head and looked up at me confused.

"Pansear, tackle back!" Both of the small monkeys collided again, but Pansage was down for the count. Cress and Chili started clapping and then slowly clapping started from behind me. When I turned around the entire restaurant was clapping and whooping. I turned red not realizing I was being watched the whole time.

"Congratulations," Cilan reached into his vest and pulled out a three toned badge, "this is the trio badge, you've earned it." He seemed to be less nervous now. He handed me the badge and I stared at it for a few seconds. My first badge on my first day of travelling. I pulled out a badge case from my bag and it snapped into the first slot with a satisfying click.

"Would you like something to eat?" Cress motioned to an empty table. I was about to decline when my stomach growled loudly. I guess I hadn't eaten anything for a few hours so it couldn't hurt.

"It's on the house." Chili and Cilan sat me down and within minutes I was stuffing my face. They offered food to Pansear and Fivel too, who gladly accepted it.  
"Hm," I looked at Pansear who was taking berries and shoveling them into his mouth, "you need a name too." He stopped and looked up at me. "Artie?" I asked. He shrugged and went back to eating so I took that as a yes. When we finished eating I returned them to their Poké Balls and left the gym. A woman with long dark hair was waiting for me outside.

"Hilda correct?" She asked taking off her glasses and wiping them on her lab coat. "I'm Fennel, Professor Juniper and I were friends in college. Come with me." She turned away and I followed her into a building. "This is my lab, it's not big but it's just what I need." Fennel motioned around the room, a small bed was set up with a large machine sitting behind it.

"I was wondering if I could ask you a favor."

"Sure." I didn't see why not, I had plenty of time to get to Nacrene City before dark.

"In the Dreamyard there is a Pokémon known as Musharna, it lets off a dream mist that would be very valuable to my work. I was hoping you could maybe collect some for me." I nodded. It sounded easy enough.

"Why not, I'll get it as quickly as possible." She smiled and thanked me before going back to working with her computer. I exited her lab and trekked back to the Dreamyard. When I went to enter the actual ruins I bumped into a familiar face.

"Bianca!"

"Hey Hilda! I finally made it." I grinned at her glad she made it this far. I was a little worried her dad was going to chase after her. I was about to ask her about her dad when we both heard a sad whimpering noise. We looked at each other and crept to look around the wall we were standing in front of. A Munna was floating between two Team Plasma members. One of them, a guy, began kicking the Munna.

"Give it up, we need that dream mist to further our plans!" The Munna whimpered again as the Team Plasma members kicked it around.

"Hey!" Bianca leapt from behind the wall and ran toward them. I blinked in surprise, normally I was the one going in head first. I ran in after her pulling out Fivel's Poké Ball. "Let that poor Munna go." she said pulling out a Poké Ball herself. "Or I'll make you." The male member laughed and threw out a Patrat. The other member, a female, threw out another one.

"I'd like to see you try." Fivel leaped in front of Bianca to block one of the Patrat's attacks. She threw out Tepig who snorted and charged at the other one as soon as he hit the ground. The duo took out both the Pokémon in less than three minutes. The Team Plasma members withdrew their Pokémon and grew angry.

"A couple of kids just beat us," the woman said, "we're in for it now."

"No, it'll be okay as long as we get this dream mist." He gave the Munna a kick again to make his point.

"What are you two doing?" That strong voice I had heard earlier today appeared from behind me. The Ghetsis character was standing near Bianca looking displeased. "I informed you of the plan and now you're letting yourselves get compromised. I think you know what this means." He stepped forward, one of his arms reached out to point at them. "Punishment." The girl screamed and bolted, the guy following behind her.

"We're sorry Ghetsis, we're sorry, we're s-" Their apologies faded as they ran away. I stared at Ghetsis, where had he come from? Before I could speak his image faded away. Munna squealed happily as a Musharna rounded the corner and snuggled with it.

"What just…?"

"It was the Musharna's dream mist." Fennel appeared behind me looking pleased. "It uses it to create life-like dreams." She clasped her hands together as they Munna and Musharna floated away to safety. "They left us a present!" She bent down to gather the dream mist left behind, she collected it in a vial and stuck it into a pocket in her lab coat.

"Thank you very much you two, I'll be sure to call the Professor and tell her you both have been a great help to me." She turned to leave and waved. "Best of luck on your journey!" I faced Bianca and smiled.

"We battled like champs."

"I know, I'm glad we saved that Munna." She seemed disappointed though. "I think I'm going to stick around here for a little while to apologize to it for what those terrible Team Plasma members did to it."

"That's fine, I'm going to be heading for Nacrene City for the time being. I'll meet up with you there."

"Thanks." She put Tepig back in his Poké Ball and waved me off. I walked back through Striaton City excited to continue onto the next town. I hurried over the bridge that led into a lovely garden. I spent awhile walking around it, sitting on the bridges and sticking my feet into the cool water. I spoke to a woman who told me more about Striaton City and its humble beginnings. After spending an hour or two loitering in the park I decided to move on. I entered onto route three running as fast as I could. I ran past a day care for both children and Pokémon; when I made it into a more forest like part of the road I heard Cheren calling after me.

"Hilda wait up!" Bianca and Cheren were panting as they caught up with me, a teary eyed girl tailing behind them. "Did you see them?" Cheren put his hands on his knees as he spoke gasping for air. "The Team Plasma members did you see them pass through here?"

"No? I didn't see anyone pass me."

"Damn."

"Cheren don't say that in front of her! Hilda you have to help some Team Plasma guys stole this girls Pokémon." At the mention of her lost friend the little girl started crying again, pulling on Bianca's skirt and burying her face into the fabric.

"Come on Hilda, we have to go find them. I'm sure they went this way." Cheren pulled on my wrist and dragged me towards where he assumed the Plasma guys had gone. We ran past many trainers and families who looked surprised at our frantic pace and Cheren's determined look. We happened upon a small cave and Cheren stopped.

"This is where they are, I know it is." I bit my lip hoping he was right. We stepped into the cave, I was surprised at how bright it actually was inside. We saw four members laughing at their good fortune, they each held a Poké Ball.

"Not too bad, it's too easy to hit up these day cares."

"Start small and win big man."

"Ahem," Cheren coughed and set out Snivy, "you'll be returning those Pokémon to their owners."

"Yeah? And what are a bunch of snot nosed kids gonna do about it?" I released Fivel. He landed next to Snivy and they both stood ready for battle.

"We are. Fivel prepare water gun!"

"Snivy prepare vine whip!"

"I am not getting sent even further down the grunt chain, you two are losing here and now."

"Then after we've beaten you, we'll be relieving you of your Pokémon." Cheren growled at them looking angrier than I've ever seen him. The grunt released all four of the stolen Pokémon at once, surprising us both.

"That's against the rules!"

"Who said we have to play by the rules?" The grunt laughed at us. Cheren and I looked at each other and nodded. We were going to work together and save these poor Pokémon.

"Fivel attack!" The Oshawott unleased a flurry of attacks upon the two Lillipups, alternating water gun and tackle. Snivy whipped one of the Patrats into a corner and was attempting to grab the other one too.

"That's all you guys have? A bunch of Patrats and Lillipups?" I gave them a condescending laugh, "You need to change it up sometimes."

"Hey," one of the grunts who was previously trying to hide behind a rock to escape the fury our Pokémon were unleashing stood up and pointed at me, "you wouldn't have such great Pokémon either if you were stealing from a bunch of kids."

"Shut up!" Another grunt smacked the back of his head. "Don't tell them stuff like that." Cheren rolled his eyes at them and refocused on the battle. Fivel leaped into the air and unsheathed his scalchop, slicing into a Lillipup and causing it to run away whimpering.

"Fivel! Awesome job you learned razor shell!" Fivel seemed to laugh as he landed on the ground stopping to dare any of the Pokémon to challenge him. The three other stolen Pokémon slumped to the ground, they couldn't take any more fighting.

"I'm getting out of here," one of the grunts pushed past us and started running, "you guys better come too unless you want to get punished." The other three looked at each other before bolting, shoving Cheren and I out of the way.

"Damn they got away."

"At least we have the stolen Pokémon." I bent down to hi five Fivel again. He smiled at me and then began glowing white. I stood up surprised as the light consumed him, it sparkled and suddenly blinded me as it flashed even brighter than before. I shielded my eyes until the light dimmed down. I looked at where my little Oshawott had been standing.

"De. Dewott?" He looked down at himself and clapped in surprise. "Wott!" His cry was deeper and he was a few inches taller. The scalchop on his stomach was now placed on the sides of his legs. He looked up at me with his mouth hanging open. I laughed.

"You're growing up already!" I lifted him up and cuddled him for a second. I wouldn't be able to do this for much longer if he was going to continue growing at this rate.

"Wow, you evolved him so quickly." Cheren looked at Fivel seeming to contemplate those words. "Anyway, we need to bring these Pokémon back to the day care." We rounded them up into their Poké Balls and trekked back to where Bianca and the girl stood.

"We got them." I flashed a grin and showed her the Poké Balls. The girl squealed excitedly and grabbed them all, running back towards the day care.

"Hey wait!" Bianca ran after her. Cheren and I watched them go. He began to walk away.

"I'm going to continue heading onto Nacrene City. Are you coming yet?"

"Hm, I think I'm going to go check out the Pokémon day care first." I started the opposite way and waved to him as he walked towards the next city. I saw Bianca playing with some of the toddlers in the sand box, they were building a sand castle with the help of a Pidove and a Lillipup. I smiled, but my goal was next door. I entered the small building and was greeted by an old woman at the counter.

"Hello dear, would you like to deposit a Pokémon for us to take care of for a while?" I nodded and pulled out my Pansears Poké Ball placing it on the counter. She smiled and took the ball into her hands, releasing the Pokémon and calling for her husband to take him outback. She turned around and typed a few things into a computer. "You can call us using this number to see how your Pokémon is doing. When you want to pick him up just drop by, we'll calculate the price you owe us then." I nodded again and thanked her as I walked outside.

I began to walk towards the fence keeping the Pokémon in the day care rounded up but immediately stopped when I noticed that the boy leaning against said fence watching the Pokémon play. I turned on my heels and started to walk away.

"Hilda! I told you we'd meet again. I just didn't think it would be so soon." I sighed and turned around to look at him.

"Hi again er-" I stopped. I had totally forgotten his name.

"N." He didn't even blink when he told me his name again. I couldn't tell if I had hurt his feelings or not, which only made me feel more awkward. I felt pretty stupid that I couldn't remember one letter. We stood there for a minute not saying anything.

"So…"I looked behind him at the Pokémon chasing each other in a game of tag. He didn't seem to feel uncomfortable at all, in fact he seemed to prefer the silence. "Are one of your Pokémon at the day care?" He pulled a Poké Ball off his belt and held it in his hand.

"This is my," he paused, "Pokémon. I prefer to keep him with me. Although he might enjoy spending time with new friends." He seemed hesitant to refer to his Pokémon as HIS. N looked up from the ball to my face. "The Pokémon day care is a pleasant idea. Letting Pokémon befriend each other and play. They don't have to fight. They can just relax." He looked down to reattach the ball to his belt. His gaze shifted back up to mine. That uncomfortable feeling came back from earlier that day. It wasn't that he was a threat, his voice was kind and he was fairly friendly. It had something to do with the way he spoke. And how he stood. Almost like he weren't sure how to converse or interact with another person. "Where are you heading to next Hilda?"

"Nacrene City."

"You should get going then." He stuck his hands in his pocket and looked up at the sky. I followed his eyes and realized the sun was already setting. I looked down at my Xtransceiver and saw that I had about half an hour before the sun set completely. I should probably go back to Striaton City to rest, but I was technically halfway between both cities. I figured I should probably just keep heading to Nacrene, I didn't want to have to walk down route three a second time. Plus Cheren was waiting for me. I took out Fivel's Poké Ball and released him to give me some company.

"You evolved him already."

"Hm?"

"The Oshawott is a Dewott now. When I met you this morning he had just met you."

"How did you know that?" I narrowed my eyes at N but he wasn't looking at me, he was completely focused on Fivel. The Dewott looked back at him and smiled. He turned to look at me and chortled.

"Deeee. Dewott." He pointed at N and chortled again. "Wott, dew. Dew, de. Wott." N grinned at him. This was getting really weird. As if this guy wasn't strange enough. He told me he could hear Pokémons thoughts earlier, I had assumed he was lying but from the way Fivel was acting I wasn't so sure. Fivel continued chatting, N had bent down so that they were close to eye level. The otter came up to him and put one flipper against his leg the other one was motioning towards me. As I watched the pair I noticed how much more comfortable he was 'speaking' with a Pokémon.

"Ah, I see." N stood up again and adjusted his hat. "Dewott likes you a lot." He didn't elaborate on what he meant by that. I looked at my Xtransceiver again and groaned.

"Okay now we really have to go." N and Fivel had been talking for over ten minutes. I was going to have to hustle to get to Nacrene now. I started to speed walk away from the day care.

"Wott!" I turned around and Fivel was tugging at Ns pant leg.

"Fivel come on." He looked at me and shook his head. "Don't you start this with me mister we're getting to Nacrene before it's dark." He stomped his foot and crossed his flippers. I crossed my arms back at him. He sniffed and walked behind N trying to propel him forward. I sighed. "What is he doing?"

"He wants me to come with you." He looked up at me with a childish look in his eyes. He didn't seem to know what to do. I stood there with my arms still crossed. It wasn't exactly an ideal plan considering N gave me the creeps but he was nice enough to Pokémon and Fivel seemed to be a fair judge of character. To be honest N didn't seem too keen on the idea either but if Fivel was going to be this insistent I guess I had to agree.

"I guess if he wants you to come you might as well come." I turned away again and started walking off. Fivel scurried over to walk next to me very pleased that he won. N walked behind us, not speaking. It made me more anxious rather than less though, if we were going to be walking through a forest together at dusk he should at least be attempting to make conversation.

"So where are you heading N?" I asked lightheartedly in an attempt to be friendly.

"I'm traveling through Unova. I'm also going to Nacrene City. I'll probably follow the path to Castelia City after that." He appeared to be taking the same route as me. I was probably going to be bumping into him more often than planned. I spun around and began walking backwards, it felt rude to talk to him over my shoulder.

"Why don't you take the gym challenge?" He frowned at the thought.

"It's rather barbaric don't you think? Forcing Pokémon against each other without asking them, making them fight. For what? Money? A metal badge?" He didn't seem angry as much as sad. "I don't understand the point."

"You have a Pokémon yourself."

"He's my friend not my Pokémon." I stopped walking.

"Fivel is my friend too."

"But you also take ownership of him."

"You take ownership over your human friends too." N faltered not sure what to say in reply. It dawned on me that I hadn't seen him with anyone else. Most people travel with at least one other person. Did he not have someone else? Was he standoffish and uncomfortable because he hadn't had a friend before? I stopped arguing for a second feeling bad for making him feel weird. Although what he had been saying before reminded me too much of what Ghetsis had been saying earlier. "Do you believe in what those Team Plasma guys are saying? Do you believe in what they're doing?"

N didn't speak, he just stared at me letting me choose the answer myself.

"Fine, say what you want." I got a little angry again. "Fivel is my friend AND my Pokémon and I don't care what you have to say on the matter." I spun around again and started walking. Fivel whined and then caught up to me. He was walking along next to me but kept looking behind us at N. I felt bad for yelling, I had just met him this morning and I was already chewing him for no reason. I turned around and stopped walking waiting for him to catch up.

"Listen I'm sorry." I scratched the back of my neck. "I just got really angry over what Team Plasma was saying. And what they're doing." I balled up my fists. "Stealing Pokémon is wrong, no matter what reason you use to try to justify it." I uncurled my fingers and stuck out my hand for him to shake. "But everyone is free to choose in what they want to believe in. No hard feelings right?"

He stared at my hand for a minute as if he wasn't sure what to do. He began walking past me.

"No hard feelings." I stood there for a second with my arm still extended. I was mildly offended that he just walked off without shaking my hand but I ignored it and turned around to walk again. We walked next to each other for a while. I hadn't noticed how tall he was until he was standing next to me. He was at least eight inches taller than I was. Although I was used to being short compared to others, my family was all full of vertically challenged people. We spent time talking about our plans. Or rather, I spoke of mine. He didn't seem to want to talk about himself very much, he was far more interested in what I had to say. The sun finally set and we were still a good twenty minutes from Nacrene City.

I yawned and stretched my arms out, I was so worn out from the days events that I wasn't sure how I was still standing and walking. A group of Woobats swooped down and did loops squealing as they flew around. Fivel squealed too and started jumping trying to catch them. I laughed and scooped him up into my arms holding him like a baby.

"We're going to get there soon." He yawned and curled up into my arms. "At least I hope so." I felt N watching me. "Are you going to stay at the Poké Center too?" I turned to look up at him.

"I was planning on walking through the night to get to Castelia City. Nacrene was just happens to be on my way."

"Oh." I felt disappointed for whatever reason. N didn't really gives me the creeps anymore like he had earlier today, he was a good listener and I was actually enjoying walking with him. I waved away the emotion because I would probably see him in Castelia tomorrow after I defeated Lenora and obtained my basic badge. Finally some lights came into view and I let out a happy sigh. A warm bed was calling my name. Cheren greeted us as we entered the city.

"Took you long enough to get here Hilda." He smirked at me and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Oh you met up with N again." N nodded at his acknowledgement but turned to me to give his goodbye.

"I need to continue to Castelia." He touched he brim of his hat like he had earlier when he left Cheren and I in Accumula. "Until we meet again." He walked away, the darkness eventually engulfing him.

"I thought he gave you the creeps."

"I don't know, he's actually sort of nice if you talk to him long enough." I shrugged. "Although I did most of the talking." I had Cheren pull Fivel's Poké Ball out of my bag so I could free up my arms. "What are you doing standing around here anyway?"

"I promised Bianca I would wait for you." He rolled his eyes. "She was very concerned when you didn't show up after dark."

"Sorry I got distracted."

"By N?" Cheren suppressed a smile and turned around before I could retort. "The Poké Center is this way, Bianca and I already have a room for all three of us." I followed him into the center and up the stairs. He knocked on the door three times and waited. Bianca threw the door open and shoved Cheren out of the way to give me a hug.

"Hilda I was so worried don't scare me like that!" I hugged her back and tried to not laugh.

"Come on, route three isn't that bad."

"But there were all those Team Plasma people everywhere." She frowned and let me go. "I was just worried they got mad that you beat them earlier and they came back to seek revenge." She dragged me into the room. Three beds lined the walls, Cheren and Bianca had already claimed two of them, leaving me the last one pushed against the wall. I threw my things onto the ground and collapsed on the bed groaning.

"Hey Bianca, you know what was holding Hilda up?"

"What?"

"She met N again." Bianca gasped and turned to look at me.

"The mysterious boy you two met in Accumula?"

"The same one. I wonder what happened that kept those two up for so long." I didn't even have the energy to try to come up with a witty reply to his teasing. Cheren snickered as Bianca started spewing out crazy stories about what happened between N and I.

"Okay you two enough. I was dropping a Pokémon off at the day care and he just so happened to be there, and Fivel wanted him to come with us to Narcene and so he came because he had to pass through here to get where he wanted to anyway."

"Hm, Fivel wanted him to come huh?" I threw the pillow on my bed at Cheren's head.

"Cheren shut up or Arceus help me I will strangle you."

"Okay, okay I'm done." He threw the pillow back to me and I held it against my chest. I was so tried I couldn't even function anymore.

"I'm going to bed now guys, I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Good night Hilda."

"Night." I turned over to face the wall not even bothering to pull the covers on. I heard someone turn off the light and then climb back into bed. I closed my eyes and immediately fell asleep.

* * *

_Little does she know tomorrow is going to be even more exciting. I'm trying to think of a stopping place ahead of time, especially since taking on two gyms in one day seems sort of crazy. Maybe a little date with N hm?_


	3. Chapter 3

**This took me forever to write for whatever reason. Shrugs.**  
**Disclaimer: I do not own the Pokémon franchise or characters.**

* * *

"Hilda wake up." I groaned and took the pillow out from under my head to block my ears. "Hilda you can't sleep in today, you have to go get your basic badge!" Bianca ripped the covers off me and started shaking me furiously. "I know you're awake stop pretending to sleep." I rolled over onto my back and saw that Cheren and Bianca were already up and ready to go. Cheren leaned against the door frame with his arms crossed looking amused. I scowled at him and pressed the pillow on my face to block out the light.

"I don't wanna get up." Bianca ripped the pillow from my grasp and I winced when the bright light shined in my face. "What time is it anyway?"

"Six AM." I turned to face Cheren who had spoken.

"You're kidding me."

"No, it's six and you need to get up."

"You guys can just. Go on without me." I rolled over on my side and closed my eyes again.

"Oh no missy, you're getting up right now and going with us to the museum." Bianca grabbed my wrist and started pulling me off the bed.

"Ow ow ow, okay I'll get up just stop trying to yank my arm off." I sat up and yawned. Cheren snorted at me. "What's so funny?"

"Look in the mirror." I scrambled to look at my reflection assuming I had drooled everywhere or my hair was crazy. I was puzzled when nothing seemed to be wrong.

"I look like I always do." I turned to look at him.

"Yeah, that's what I'm laughing at." He walked out the door laughing loudly at his own stupid joke. I fumed silently, looking at Bianca who was trying to stifle laughter of her own.

"Ignore him Hilda, he's just mad because you've been sleeping in." Sleeping in? It was six in the morning I hardly call that sleeping in. I picked up a brush to detangle the knots that had gotten in my hair while I was rolling around sleeping last night. "Anyway, we found out the Lenora is a user of normal type Pokémon." I stopped in the middle of brushing to look at her.

"I don't have any fighting type Pokémon."

"Cheren and I don't have any either." She sighed and I returned to taming my hair, this was going to be a little bit harder than I had expected. I mean sure Fivel and I were strong, but going against a gym leader with no one in your party having a type advantage? That was very stupid.

"What about Pinwheel Forest?" I asked putting the brush down to tie my hair back up into a ponytail.

"What about it?"

"Does it have any fighting types living around in it?" Bianca flipped open a brochure she had taken from downstairs in the lobby of the Poké Center.  
"Hm, it says here that there are two different fighting type Pokémon living on the outer parts of Pinwheel Forest." I pulled my ponytail through the back of my hat and walked away from the mirror to face Bianca.

"So we'll go there and catch one!"

"But it also says they're really hard to find." She handed me the pamphlet to let me look. It said Timburrs and Throh could be found in Pinwheel. Sawk could also be found, but it was even harder to find one of those lurking around. I handed it back and shrugged.

"You and Cheren can try to beat her without one, I'm going to go find a Timburr before I try to battle her." I tugged at my black sleeveless jacket and strapped my Xtransceiver onto my left arm again. I paused suddenly and looked at her. "Hey I had all this on when I went to sleep." Bianca looked away embarrassed and mumbled something along the lines of 'Cheren and I undressed you'.

"You let CHEREN do WHAT." She gave me a sheepish look.

"No I just had him unstrap your Xtransceiver, I was the one who let down your hair and took off your jacket." I sniffed and turned away to collect my bag.

"Total invasion of privacy." I felt Bianca roll her eyes behind me. "Anyway, I'm going off to Pinwheel now to find a Timburr. Where you going to go?"

"There's a little restaurant near to museum that I think Cheren and I are going to eat breakfast at. Maybe you should come there first?"

"No, I'm not really hungry. I also figure that the Timburr is more likely to be out since it's early. Less people will be stomping around so I have a better chance of finding one." I walked out into the hall and Bianca followed me, closing the door behind her.

"Don't work yourself too hard or else you'll get hurt and we won't be able to find you." It was my turn to roll my eyes at her.

"You worry too much, you're not my mother stop freaking out over everything."

"That's not fair Hilda," she frowned as she followed me down stairs into the lobby. "I just am afraid of you and Cheren getting in trouble. You two are my best friends and I'd feel really terrible if something happened to either of you."

"I'm sorry, I know you just don't want us to get hurt. But don't be a helicopter mom to us okay?" I smiled at her and she smiled back.

"Yeah okay, I already have a helicopter dad at home so I know what that's like." Cheren looked impatient as we approached him right outside the center.

"What took you two so long?" I punched him in the shoulder without responding and headed towards Pinwheel Forest.

"I'll catch up with you guys later. If you need me call me." I started jogging past the café and museum; watching people eat outside of the porch as I zoomed by. The ground turned from cobbled stone to a dirt path. I followed along the white picketed fence until I reached the entrance to the forest.

"You can't go in there." A woman wearing pink scrubs who was feeding a Pidove looked up at me. "There are some weird people blocking the path. They don't seem to be moving anytime soon."

"Weird people huh?" I looked at the tall tree branches that formed a thick canopy. Pursing my lips I turned back to her. "Were they wearing weird…medieval looking clothing? With hoods?" She stood up and brushed off her knees; the Pidove hopped away.

"Yes, they said something about how no one could pass until they finished their job." She shrugged and picked up her bag that was sitting on the ground. "I didn't argue with them, they all had Pokémon and I didn't want to pick a fight with a bunch of people when I only have one Pokémon myself." She shouldered the bag and started walking back into town. "I would just wait until they're done doing whatever they're doing." I frowned. Team Plasma was here. It sounded like I would be dealing with more than four lowly grunts. Even then I had more than one person with me. I would get Cheren and Bianca later, right now I needed to find a Timburr. The woman had been standing next to a break in the fence. I guessed that this was the outer part of Pinwheel Forest.

It was a quiet and peaceful morning. Some Pidoves chirped in the trees, and a group of Tympoles splashed in a nearby puddle. I crept further into the area. I was beginning to give up on my hunt after a good hour, I was clearly not going to be finding any Timburrs anytime soon. I let Fivel out of his Poké Ball to give me some company.

"Dewott." He smiled at me in greeting. I sat on the ground next to him and sighed heavily.

"I'm trying to find a Timburr to fight Lenora with but I can't find one anywhere." I put my elbows on my knees and rested my chin in my hands. My stomach growled. I regretted not eating with Bianca when she had offered. Fivel looked at me and gave my shoulder a pat.

"Wott." He offered a sympathetic look.

"Yeah, I'll find on eventually." I laid on my back and closed my eyes, putting my hands behind my head. I was still really tired, maybe I would take a nap for a while. As I was about to doze off I heard Fivel making a lot of noise near me. I opened one eye to see what he was doing. He was speaking to someone who was clearly hiding in a bush. He turned around and pointed at me nodding. He walked back over to my side and sat down.

"Who were you talking to?" He just smiled and started humming. I closed my eyes again. After a few minutes I heard a crash come from behind me; I sat up to turn around. A Timburr had fallen down walking out from behind a tree and was trying to stand back up, but it wouldn't let go of the log it was carrying making it impossible. I jumped onto my feet and dug into my bag for a Poké Ball. Fivel stood up before I even made a call and blasted him with water gun. The Timburr looked very displeased but was still having trouble standing up. I took it as a chance to capture it and threw my Poké Ball at him.

It shook for a second but quickly clicked shut and the button glowed green. I threw my fist in the air and hissed out a yes. Fivel looked pleased with himself, he walked over to the bush where he had been conversing with someone. He finally managed to coax them out. A small Sewaddle shuffled out of the bushes and gave me a shy look.

"Sew…"

"Did you find this Timburr for me?" I grabbed the Poké Ball that rested on the ground and looked at him while I held it.

"Waddle!" The Sewaddle nodded and bounced in place a little. "Se. Sewaddle!" It offered me a smile and then scuttled back into the bushes. Fivel looked up at me and gave me an innocent look before motioning for us to go back to town. I eyed him, I was pleased he helped me get the fighting type I needed but that was a dirty trick, getting wild Pokémon to sell each other out. I returned the Dewott to his ball and ran back through the forest all the way to the museums entrance. I was panting wildly, I bumped my chest with my fist a few times hoping to open my lungs to get more air in. I really regretted not eating anything before I went out.

After catching my breath I jogged up the steps to enter the museum only to smack into a person exiting. I fell backwards and almost tripped down the stairs when they grabbed my arm and pulled me back up. I looked up apologizing profusely, but I stopped babbling when I locked onto Ns blue eyes.  
"I'm sorry Hilda. That was my fault." He let go of my arm and turned to walk around me.

"Whoa hey, I thought you said you were going to head straight to Castelia." He paused on the stairs but didn't turn to look at me.

"Have you heard of the legend of how Unova was created?" That was a total subject change. I shifted my weight onto one foot and folded my arms staring at the back of his head.

"Yeah, every kid hears that story. What about it."

"I think about it a lot." He paused waiting for me to answer. I honestly didn't know what to say. "I wonder about the two brothers. Which one was right? Truth or ideals?" He finally turned to look at me. "Which is it Hilda? Which is stronger than the other?" He almost looked scared when he asked me the question.  
"I don't know, they could never beat each other. Truth and ideals are equally important." I unfolded my arms placing them on my hips instead. "It's just a legend, I don't know why you're worrying about it so much."

His lips formed a small line and there was a sadness in his eyes.

"Yes, it's just a legend." He turned and started walking down the stairs again. He stopped at the bottom and looked up at me again. "Truth, that's stronger than ideals Hilda. Reshiram." He whipped his head around to look towards Pinwheel Forest. "I need Reshiram." He walked away without another word. I watched him go. There were a lot of things I didn't understand about that guy. I was starting to wonder if he was completely in touch with reality. I turned around and entered the museum, I was finally ready to fight Lenora.

"Hilda!" Bianca turned from the front desk to greet me. Cheren leaned out from behind her to wave at me. "Did you bump into N? Cheren introduced me to him." I shot him a dirty look before responding.

"Yeah I saw him again. He's in Pinwheel Forest now I assume."

"You really never know with him though do you." Cheren leaned against the counter flipping through a tour book of the museum. "I mean he told you he was going straight to Castelia City but he was still here today." He looked up at me from overtop his glasses. "A little strange don't you think?" Bianca giggled.

"Okay I don't know what you two said to him, or what he said to you, or what you've said to each other but I would appreciate it if you kept me out of it." I folded my arms. "That's all I have to say on the subject. Anyway, have either of you challenged Lenora yet?" Cheren's ego deflated instantly.  
"She killed me and Snivy, and I was so sure we were going to beat her." Bianca blushed and looked away.

"After seeing what she did to Cheren I was too afraid to even try." I grinned, it was my time to shine.

"Well then, follow me and watch a real champion work." I started to march away from the front desk; I was totally ready to dominate the gym floor and humiliate Cheren in the process. Since I was totally ignoring what was going on in front of me I bumped into yet another person.

"Oh, excuse me young lady." The man I bumped into turned around and offered me a small smile.

"I'm sorry." I backed up embarrassed, my face turning a little red. "I wasn't really paying attention to where I was going." He waved his hand dismissively and motioned for all three of us to come closer.

"Would you like a tour of the museum?" Cheren perked up again. I sighed, museums were great and all but I really wanted to challenge Lenora right away. Before I could voice my opinion we were already being ushered away to look at exhibits.

"My name is Hawes, I'm one of the directors here." He brought us to a large skeleton of some dragon Pokémon. "This is one of our most prized possessions here at the museum. This skeleton is of an ancient dragon type Pokémon. We assume it had been traveling the world when something caused its untimely death. Bad for the Pokémon, good for us." He laughed at his joke before moving on.

"This is a meteorite, it's said a Pokémon came from space on it." Bianca pressed her hands against the glass of an exhibit next to the meteorite.

"What's this?"

"Oh that." Hawes shrugged and moved past it. "It's just a rock we found in a castle some time ago. It's only really on display because it's pretty." Pretty indeed. It was a glossy black, the longer I looked at it the more I wanted to smash the case open to hold it. It was a weird feeling. I hadn't ever felt like I needed something this bad in my entire life. The rock mesmerized me, I needed to get closer…

"Hilda." My head snapped around to look at Cheren. He gave me a concerned glance before tugging on my arm. "Hawes is trying to tell you something important."

"Oh, sorry heh." I walked back to the group trying to ignore the voice in my brain that was telling me I need to examine that rock more closely.

"That concludes the tour of what I find to be the most fascinating things we have on display." He gestured at the stairs we were standing in front of before continuing. "Upstairs you'll find a library and my wife Lenora, the other director of this museum and gym leader for Nacrene City." He smiled and nodded before walking away. I gazed up the stairs and turned back to Cheren and Bianca.

"Are you ready to see how a real master wins a Pokémon battle?"

"Sure, do you know someone?"

"Cheren I will hit you so hard." I shook my fist at him. I really was going to punch him in the nose someday. I suppressed my rage and walked up the steps; the last step led to a room that opened up into a large library. I stood at the entrance in awe of the sheer size of the library. I'd been to one before of course but it was really small.

"Okay where's the gym?" I turned to Bianca who had suddenly become very interested in her nails. Cheren shrugged and sat on one of the couches to look at a magazine that was on the table near him. "You guys aren't going to help?" I gave them an exasperated look. They continued to ignore me. "Fine I'll do it on my own." I marched over to a bookcase to examine it for hidden panel. A little boy standing next to me slowly shook his head. I moved my hand away from the selves and placed them on the books. He nodded his head still not looking up from his own story. I looked at the books instead. I really hoped I didn't need to read all these, I could speed read but not this many at once.

"The first clue to find the book you're looking for has to do with the first Pokémon you saw when you came into the library." The boy flipped a page in his book and continued to read. The first Pokémon I saw in the library? I hadn't seen any of them. I turned around to scan the library scene behind me. Cheren and Bianca were sitting next to each other on the couch looking through a travel magazine, and they were the only ones in the library besides the boy next to me. I peered behind the bookcase and saw two other people standing in front of bookcases browsing the books. I sighed, there were definitely no Pokémon in the library.

I stood back to look at all the books at once. None of them really looked out of place. My eyes zeroed in onto a golden bound book that was slightly above eye level. That one did look at little different from the others. I pulled it off the shelf and examined the title. "Patrat Health and Care." I flipped it open. The binding was cracked along the middle so the book fell open to a page with a post it note stuck to it.

"Hello trainer! You've found the first book! I'm now going to offer you a second clue, you'll need to find the book that answers the clue. Eventually the final clue will lead you to the entrance to my gym." Some first clue, there were no Patrats in this library. I read the second clue and snort closing the book and returning it to the shelf.

"There are no Patrats here. This is an unfair test." The boy next to me giggled and motioned to the space in front of him.

"Patrat. Pat." A Patrat was sitting on the ground flipping through a picture book. I narrowed my eyes. The kid who gave me the clue was the one I was supposed to be paying attention to. I felt so incredibly dumb I wondered how I even managed to get this far on my own. I stalked off to find the next clue. After being fooled multiple times and becoming less and less confident of my brain power I found the last clue.

"The final book where you will learn how to enter my gym is hidden. One last riddle for you! Two backwards, one left, two forwards, one right and one backwards. That's where the last book is! Good luck. – Lenora" I stared at the clue for a few moments before setting it back on the shelf. I pursed my lips contemplating how humiliating it would be to ask Cheren for help at this point. Okay there was obviously an answer to this clue I just had to think. It had to do with the placement of the book. My eyes snapped open and I walked to the second bookshelf to the right and located the golden bound book. Lenora thought she was all clever, but it wasn't that hard if you just remembered that there were six bookshelves in the library.

The girl moved out of my way as I climbed up the stepstool to reach the book.

"Congratulations trainer! You've solved all my clues. You can now enter my gym. – Lenora" Under the book was a switch. The bookshelf rumbled and I jumped off the stepstool as the shelf slid past me. It revealed a staircase that I assumed led to the gym. Cheren slapped my back and put his arm on my shoulder to lean on me.

"Only took you 55 minutes to figure out a puzzle that took a 12 year old 10." I shoved him away ignoring his snide comments and hopped down the stairs before he could degrade me even more. He and Bianca followed me down to Lenora's gym.

"Welcome!" Lenora turned from the desk she had been working at and walked forward to greet us. "Are you ready for battle?" I nodded. She stopped walking when she reached the semicircle that separated her from the battlefield. I stepped up to my semicircle and pulled out two Poké Balls. She pulled out her own Poké Balls and nodded at me. Cheren and Bianca stepped back to keep out of our way. I threw out Fivel at the same time she threw out her Herdier.

"Fivel, razor shell!" He threw himself at the Herdier, grabbing the scalchops from his thighs to slice at the Herdier. It yelped and skidded trying to shake off the attack.

"Herdier, take down!" The Herdier leaded at Fivel and smashed him to the ground.

"Fivel, take him out! Razor shell again!" Fivel pirouetted to create a spinning razor shell attack. Herdier didn't stand a chance; he fell to the ground and let out a loud sigh. He tried to stand up but slumped to the ground again. Lenora recalled him before throwing out a Watchog. Before I could even register the new Pokémon had entered the field she shouted her attack.

"Watchog, retaliate!" The Watchog smashed into Fivel, who was down and out after one attack. Lenora smiled at my utter confusion as I returned Fivel and threw out my new Timburr. "Retaliate is twice as effect if a team member had fainted the turn before." I let that sink in before giving Timburr and command.

"Timburr, low kick!" He flipped the log he was still carrying into the air and launched himself at the Watchog, knocking him off his feet. Watchog scrambled to stand up again, already looking weak from being throw to the ground like that. "Again, low kick!" Lenora recalled the Watchog before it even hit the ground.

"Good use of your fighting types strongest move." She pulled out a badge from her apron and crossed the line to hand it to me. "Congratulations, here's your basic badge. What's your name, if you don't mind my asking?"

"It's Hilda." I accepted the badge and turned to Cheren to wave it in his face.

"Ah hm, tell me who's got more badges? Who's the better trainer?" I made an O with my mouth and pointed at the badge. "Why I think it's me!" Cheren rolled his eyes and folded his arms.

"Okay, so you got the badge before me, big deal." Bianca smiled at me as I snapped the badge into its place in my badge case.

"Looks like we can lea-"

"Lenora! Lenoooora!" Hawes came barreling down the stairs, nearly crashing into me. "They're taking the dragon skull! Team Plasma is taking the dragon skull!"

"Team Plasma?" I balled up my fists. "We're helping." Cheren, Bianca and I flew back up into the library and hopped down the stairs to get to the museum. Lenora and Hawes followed behind us. Team Plasma grunts surrounded the skeleton attempting to dismantle it.

"Hey! You guys get off that right now!" Lenora reached for a Poké Ball but realized both of her Pokémon were out of commission thanks to me. One of the men laughed.

"Let's get out of here guys." Two of the grunts finally managed to unhook the skull and lowered it to two other members. Cheren and I tried to break through the wall the grunts were forming to stop us. "Smoke screen, go!" Several grunts threw down smoke bombs at the same time and the room was filled with a dark black fog. I ran tried to run after them put tripped on an exhibit and fell over. When the smoke finally cleared the skull and Team Plasma were gone.

Bianca helped me up, my knee had gotten pretty banged up and had a huge bruise on it. It hurt to walk, but I had to run. Lenora and I ran outside of museum hoping to see where the thieves had run off to. Several people seemed disoriented and said that twelve or so men and woman dressed in strange outfits and ran out of the museum carrying a skull. They pointed towards Pinwheel Forest and apologized for not doing anything. Lenora crossed her arms and frowned.

"I'm not sure what to do, I don't want to leave Nacrene City unattended but I also need to get that skull back."

"Lenora!" A tall man wearing a green shirt and oddly striped pants sauntered up to us with his arms open.

"Burg! Needed a break from Castelia?" Lenora seemed to forget about the crisis at hand for a moment. She turned to me. "He may not look like it, but this man is the gym leader of Castelia. Burg this is Hilda." He gave me a wave and a small smile.

"You seem unnerved Lenora what's wrong?" She got angry again as she was reminded of the current situation.

"Some jerks who went by the name of Team Plasma stole the dragon skull to our skeleton!" She pointed at Pinwheel Forest. "I need help getting it back but I need to block the exit on the other side of Nacrene to make sure they don't get away. I also need someone to watch the museum."

"Bianca and I can do it Lenora." Cheren took the steps two at a time to reach us. "Don't worry about the museum we'll watch out for them." Lenora nodded and turned to me.

"You and Burg then, go search Pinwheel Forest and find Team Plasma. They can't have gotten that far with that heavy skull." She started running to the east side of the city. "Get moving you two!"

"Guess we better go now." Burg began walking towards Pinwheel Forest. I felt stupid, I should've mentioned someone told me about Team Plasma being around earlier. I could've stopped this from happening if I weren't so focused on getting dumb gym badges. I silently brooded while we traveled into the dense forest. It got much darker, the branches forming a heavy canopy that little light managed to filter through. We eventually came to a split in the road.

"This dirt road leads further into the forest. The road we're on leads to the Skyarrow Bridge. I'm going to go this way to block their path, you go down the dirt road." He jogged away before I could protest. Wow that sure was nice of him, leaving me to hunt through a forest I've never been to. I was going to kick his butt later in retaliation. I stalked off to search for the skull.

I tripped over roots and bushes for at least twenty minutes. My hair had fallen out of my ponytail and was all over my face. I was going to slaughter Burg, I didn't even care anymore. I felt gross and sticky, but I had to find that stupid skull. I was going to take all my anger out of the dumb grunt holding it too. After climbing up yet another fallen tree I came to a clearing where a grunt was busy trying to drag the skull along the ground by himself.

"Hey!" I hopped off the ledge and pulled out the Poké Ball that contained my Timburr. "Give me that skull." The grunt dropped it and put his hands up looking frightened.

"I-I don't have any Pokémon on my, don't hurt me please." I lowered my Poké Ball suspicious he was lying. "Here take this I don't want it." He shoved the skull at me, it rolled over and I ran to it checking it for damage.

"Don't be useless." A man in long robes floated out from behind me to stand next to the grunt. "Our king doesn't allow useless men to continue to stay in Team Plasma's ranks." The grunt looked conflicted, he clearly wasn't sure who the bigger threat here was. "The skull is of no concern, it is not from the dragon Pokémon we were searching for."

"And who are you?" I lifted my ball up again just in case.

"I am Gorm, one of the seven sages of Team Plasma." He gave me disdainful look as he spoke. "Ghetsis may fight with words, but I fight with power." He pulled out a Poké Ball. I wasn't so sure I could beat him. Fivel was my best fighter and I still hadn't healed him at the center yet.

"Hey what's going on over here?" I heard Burg crashing through the trees, he jumped down next to me. "The bug Pokémon were restless so I ca- Hilda you look absolutely atrocious."

"Thanks for noticing but we have a bigger problem on our hands here." I gestured towards Gorm and the frightened grunt.

"What problem?" Lenora was standing next to me with a Poké Ball in her hand. I turned to Burg again and he had one ready for battle as well.

"Even I can't go up against two gym leaders." Gorm stuck the Poké Ball back into his robes. "Until we meet again." He and the grunt ran out the other end of the clearing.

"Damn." Lenora stuck her Poké Ball into her apron and checked the skull like I had earlier.

"Everything look okay?" She nodded at Burgs question.

"Help me get this back to the museum." All three of us hoisted it up and scooted all the way back to the museum. My arms were incredibly sore from all the heavy lifting, and my knee hurt even more than it had earlier.

"You look like a train wreck Hilda." Bianca gave me a concerned look. "Maybe you should go to the Poké Center to wash up. We'll find you in Castelia later." I was offended that everyone was so concerned about how terrible I looked, but the idea of a hot shower wasn't exactly unappealing.

"Thanks for helping me retrieve the skull Hilda." Lenora patted my back and offered me a small smile. "I think you deserve a little break before you head to Castelia." I sighed, all of them were right. I smiled back and excused myself. My Pokémon and I could use a good rest. I walked back to the Poké Center and dropped off Fivel and my still unnamed Timburr. I slumped into a chair to wait for them to finish healing. I flipped open my Xtranceiver to check the time; it was a quarter to noon. I could've sworn that it was three or four. Luckily that meant I could take a quick shower and then make it to Castelia with more than enough time to spare.

After collecting my Pokémon I asked if I could use a shower room. Nurse Joy nodded for an Audino to lead me to my destination. After scrubbing all the dirt and sweat off I felt absolutely wonderful. My knee stopped hurting, the hot water did wonders for it. I took my time drying and brushing my hair because I wanted to look nice later when I reached Castelia, I thought I might treat Bianca and Cheren to dinner. Although maybe just Bianca since Cheren was so adamant on teasing me. I pulled my ponytail through my hat like I had earlier that morning and set off to enter Pinwheel Forest again. Hopefully staying on the paved road will prevent a mishap like earlier from happening.

I let Fivel and my Timburr out to take a walk with me. Fivel chatted with Timburr making motions with his flippers, it appeared to be a rather intense conversation from Timburr's reactions and Fivel's frantic look.

"Timburr, you need a name." Their conversation stopped and he looked up at me a cocked his head to the side. "I'm thinking Leonardo." Fivel made a chuckling noise and Timburr shoved him. "Oh is Leonardo a dumb name?" Timburr looked up at me and shook his head. Fivel chuckled again. I guess if Timburr liked it that's all that matters. I was just about to cross into Pinwheel Forest when I realized I needed a Pokémon to defeat Burg with. Since he was a bug type user my Pansear would be a good choice, but I really didn't want to have to walk back to pick him up. I heard a chirping noise behind me and something clicked in my brain. A flying type like Pidove was the perfect solution.

"Hey guys." I lowered my voice to a whisper and bent down to talk to them. "I need you to help me catch this Pidove okay?" Fivel gave me a solemn nod and motioned for Timburr to follow him. They silently stalked around the Pidove until they were in a good position.

"Now! Leonardo low kick! Fivel water gun!" The combo hit knocked the Pidove down long enough for me to toss a ball and capture it. "Awesome job guys." I bent down to give them the usual round of high fives.

"It's wrong to capture so many Pokémon against their will." I narrowed my eyes as I turned around to face N. He was everywhere and nowhere at the same time it seemed.

"I thought you moved on." He watched me pick up the Poké Ball and stick it in my bag. He didn't respond, he just continued to look at me. I sighed. "I needed the Pidove in order to beat Burg at Castelia's gym okay? I'll take good care of her I promise."

"But you're using her to fight in a battle." I let out an exasperated sigh. I honestly didn't know how to get through to him.

"You know what, never mind." I moved past him to enter into the dense forest. "I really don't want to start an argument again, I'll catch you later." I started speed walking hoping to get to Castelia before dark this time so that I could eat with my friends. Really it shouldn't have been a problem, it was 12:30 PM. But it seems something always held me up. Fivel kept turning around to look behind us and was tapping my leg trying to get my attention. I paused after two or so minutes of walking and whipped around.

"Are you stalking me?" I pointed at N who was only a few yards behind me. He seemed confused at the accusation.

"Stalking? Why would I be stalking you?" He appeared to be hurt by my words.

"You always seem to magically show up where ever I happen to be." I folded my arms. "It's rather suspicious don't you think." We studied each other for a second without saying anything.

"If you're following me because you want to travel with me and my friends then that's fine, you just should've asked." I motioned for him to follow me and turned back around. I had a feeling that I just made a big mistake. But N wasn't really a stranger anymore. I thought so at least. Cheren and Bianca were going to tease me mercilessly over it later.

N sped up so we could walk next to each other. I guess he did want to come with me after all. I was going to ask why he was so shy about it but then it didn't take much to figure that out. He obviously wasn't very good at talking to people. Fivel chirped happily and marched between N and I pleased that N was with him again. Leonardo eyed him suspiciously sticking close to my right side.

N walked like a soldier who had been to war and back, he was always standing with a perfect posture and would stare straight ahead with a far off look if you weren't speaking to him. His speech pattern was strange too. It reminded me of someone from a foreign country who was fluent in a nonnative language but spoke very formally. Honestly, everything about N was a little weird.

"Where are you from N?" I had spent all yesterday talking about myself, I was hoping to get a little information out of him.

"I don't know."

"You…don't know where you're from?"

"I remember." He paused and seemed confused. "I remember but I don't." He stopped walking and looked at the ground. "I do remember playing with my friends. The Pokémon who took care of me. I stayed with them in a forest like this one. They would feed me and keep me warm at night." He smiled as he thought about it. His smile slowly turned into a frown.

"What do you think about Team Plasma?" He was good at always avoiding questions by changing the subject. I puffed up at the thought of them.

"They're terrible people who are doing terrible things. They're making up excuses for stealing Pokémon for their own gain. They're up to something, I just don't know what yet." He looked up from the ground to lock eyes with me. There was some emotion in them that I didn't understand. "Like today," I started walking again, "today they tried to steal a dragon skull from the museum! Can you believe that?" I threw my hands in the air as my voice grew louder. "And yesterday, before I met up with you I had to save a poor preschoolers Pokémon that those stupid jerks stole. They stole from a little girl how messed up is that." I stopped talking when I noticed N seemed to be mulling something over.

"What's wrong?" He looked up and shook his head.

"Nothing of consequence. Something that will be dealt with at a later date. Although these things you're telling me about. I also wonder what Team Plasma is up to." He sensed a hint of subdued anger. The look faded when he glanced down at Fivel who was picking up pebbles with his free flipper and examining them, keeping the pretty ones piled up in his other flipper.

"Do you want something to put those in Fivel?" I dug in my bag and pulled out a small pouch that I hadn't put anything in yet. I unzipped it and handed it down to him.

"Wooooott!" He dumped all his pebbles into it very pleased that he now had even more room for pretty rocks. N shifted his gaze up to mine.

"You're different very different Hilda." He paused and looked away from me going back to staring at the space directly in front of him. "You care about your Pokémon more than most trainers I've come across. And your Pokémon respect you a lot." He seemed to consider that for a moment.

"Whoa we're at the Skyarrow Bridge this is so cool!" I ran ahead of him excited to get a look at Castelia City's skyline, leaving whatever profound thought he was about to share with me back in the forest. Fivel stopped examining his pebbles to hurry after me, clutching his collection to his chest. Leonardo picked up the pace as well and all three of us stood at the entrance to the bridge in total awe of its sheer size. N walked up beside me, although he didn't seem to be quite as impressed.

"Come on, we're going to run to the middle so we can see everything."

"What do you me-" I grabbed Ns wrist before he could finish his sentence and bolted onto the bridge. I had to practically drag him because he wasn't picking up his feet enough to keep up with my pace. I stopped running and turned to look at him. He was staring at my hand that was wrapped around his wrist. I let go, turning red from embarrassment.

"Sorry, boundaries."

"No that was…okay." He continued to stare at his wrist, he looked so utterly curious and childlike. It was almost cute.

"Dew! Dew!" FIvel started pulling on my leg trying to get me to keep walking again.

"Okay enough dillydallying, we're making it to the center of the bridge." I ran off leaving N in the dust. Leonardo and Fivel trailed behind me making happy noises. I turned to look behind me and saw that N was attempting to catch up with me. I slowed down and finally stopped to look over the railing. All I could see was water below me and a huge city looming above me. N jogged next to me seeming a little out of breath.

"You've got to be faster than that to keep up with me." He gave me a pleading look.

"Please don't run off like that again." I shrugged and smiled looking back at the skyline.

"Don't be so slow and it won't be a problem. Look at that city! I've never seen any place so huge. It's totally amazing, I'm so excited to get in there to check it out. I've heard so much about it!" I looked down at my two Pokémon and deflated a little. "Sorry guys, but you're going to have to go back into your balls until we're in the city." Fivel made a sad noise but handed me the bag with his pebbles in it anyway. I traded the bag for their Poké Balls and returned them both.

"Okay let's go." I started to run off again but skidded to a stop when I realized N wasn't following me. I sighed and walked back to where he was still standing, looking at the city.

"Come on, it'll be even better when we're in the city." He totally ignored me. His eyes had a glazed over look. I snapped my fingers in front of his face and whistled. "Earth to N, Earth to N, this is the commander speaking it's time to come back to reality." He shook his head and looked down at me utterly confused.

"What are you talking about?"

"Never mind, let's go." I ran in place trying to get the message across. "Let's go into the city now." He continued to stare at me confused.

"Okay, you're being a terrible traveling partner." I pouted. "We have to TRAVEL that's the point of being TRAVELING partners."

"I'm just…" He paused and considered his words. "I'm not fond of large crowds of people I don't know."

"Well you know me and that's all that matters, trust me. Now let's go." I grabbed his arm again and started walking, although he was more compliant this time. I finally managed to drag him across the bridge and into the outskirts of the city. I checked my Xtransceiver and saw that it was 1:30 PM, so we still had plenty of time to do stuff in the city and then eat dinner later. First, I needed to find Cheren and Bianca. I called them and they picked up after the first ring.

"Hilda! Are you finally here?" Bianca looked overjoyed to see me. I nodded and grinned.

"Yeah I know, finally. It took long enough."

"Did you get distracted again?" Cheren wasn't really looking into the camera, he was busy reading something off screen.

"Uh, yeah kind of I guess." He looked up and I saw a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Do I happen to see a certain green haired, black hat wearing man behind you?" N turned towards the camera when he heard his description. I covered the camera lens embarrassed and hushed him.

"Just meet me at the Poké Center okay." I hung up before Cheren could make another snide remark.

"Why did you cover up the camera like that?" I turned red and wasn't sure what to say.

"I was uh…" I chewed on my lip trying to think of something to say. "You know what it doesn't matter let's just run to the Poké Center." After examining the brochures in Nacrene I had enough information to know that I had to run around the outskirts of the city to find the center. I started jogging off and then I of course had to turn around to grab N again.

I dragged him half way across the world it seemed, he just could not walk fast enough unless I was propelling him forward. I finally found the Poké Center and saw Cheren and Bianca sitting in some chairs reading tour guide books. I practically skipped over to them I was so excited to be in Castelia.

"Hey guys fancy seeing you here!" They turned to look up at me and N. "So yeah I picked up a stray on the way here and we're together now, so play nice." Bianca's eyes widened and Cheren raised his eyebrows, a large grin spreading over his face. I turned red again when I realized I was still holding Ns wrist and immediately let go.

"No not like that I mean we're traveling together now." Cheren continued to grin at me. "I mean he's traveling with ALL of us now." He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and made an attempt to compose himself.

"I see, well it's nice of you to join us N." He seemed confused again. Honestly he seemed to be in a constant state of confusion unless we were discussing Pokémon.

"Yes, so I'm going to go dump some of my stuff in our room and the-"

"They only have two bed bedrooms here. Bianca and I already reserved a room for ourselves so you'll have to get your own." He stood up and walked past me to lean down and whisper in my ear. "So guess you're bunking with N tonight." I gave him the dirtiest look I could muster while he walked away whistling. Bianca stood up to follow him and gave me a sympathetic look and offered her own advice.

"I would hurry, or else there'll only be one bed bedrooms left." I was mortified at the thought and stood frozen in place as she walked away. N turned to me after watching them leave.

"Cheren always seems to be in a rather good mood."

"Yeah when he sees a good opportunity to embarrass me." I muttered under my breath.

"What?"

"Nothing, let's just check into a room." I was not sleeping with N, and I was prepared to kill Cheren if I had to in order to prevent that from happening.

* * *

_I can't decide if I want to be evil or nice, although I'm leaning towards evil. I'll see which one flows better._  
_I'll also be using this second to respond to reviews!_

_malory79080: First and foremost, thank you for being the first person to review this story! I actually felt all warm and fuzzy inside because you said you liked it so much aaah. You have claimed a special place in my heart. _


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